Tea Time in Wonderland

Posts Tagged ‘London’

Fancy exhausting your kids @ Kew Gardens?

Start with a lovely picnic -  plenty of trees with branches falling to the ground, make great shelters for the children (meaning you can eat in peace for once)
Then climb the 118 steps to the tree tops and walk right under the sky…
Now, walk even further, to the new play area, Plantastic…

What’s on?

A nice collection of mushrooms to climb on…

Plenty of adventures: wooden totems, mysteries in wooden trunks, bouncy new friends, mazes…

Games to fly like a bee…

Or see life from up high..

Let alone tunnels going underground. Kids will also learn about biodiversity and how to attract insects and butterflies to their garden…

Er, parents? Oh, they’ve crashed a long time ago on one of those lovely benches…

Kew gardens
Victoria Gate
Kew Road
Richmond
Surrey TW9 3AB

Psssst: looking for another fab playground? Try Kensington Gardens: there is one themed on Peter Pan and dedicated to Lady Di. Really great.

Isn’t it extraordinary to have a REAL summer for once? Better enjoy it while it lasts!

- Carnaval day on Southbank tomorrow!

- Love latin dances? Salsa, Cuban, columbian music? Go shake these calories out @ Hyde park for the World City Music Village Festival!

- Hey, it’s also the Big World Dance all over town on Saturday, with the final in Trafalgar square…

- The Hyde and Seek festival is back! It’s a fab occasions to play extraodinary games on Southbank. Bring all your friends!

- Did you have to tighten the belt on your fashion budget? Try the big swish this Saturday a giant clothes swap event!

- Why not learn graffiti art? Or a unicycle workshop?

- Stamp your week-end with something a little different. An old post-office in Hackney turns into an exhibition space: artists such as Tracy Emyn were inspired by parcel, letters, iconic stamps…

- Art is not your cup of tea? Try this show on coffee cups… Some have been decorated by Coppola, Fellini, Koons, Almodovar…

- Waterloo turned into a stage? Yes, with The Railway Children show (with a real train!)

- Missed the Royal Chelsea Flower show? Don’t worry -  Hampton Courts gets flowered similarly each summer…

- Add a pinch of urban nature…

- Can’t travel but feel like a change? Well, try Bastille Day @ Battersea Park this Sunday: French market, petanque, retro French music (with dancing and Lido girls)… Now, where have you put that beret of yours?

- Want more summer festivals? Music, shopping, nice food stalls? Try the Ealing one… or maybe Levisham? Even Islington joins in!

You’ll find me in a lavender field… and discovering the new Serpentine pavillion (by a French Architect, by the way)… How about you?

Londoners often sigh when looking at the entrance fee for Kew Gardens. 121 hectares of splendid land for sure, splendid Victorian greehouses of course… but £13.50? More than a trendy exhibition? When one has Hyde Park and Kensington gardens nearby? Let alone that this is not central London and that you need all your Vitamin C if you’re planning to take public transports with a pushchair…

The last few years, the park has done its best to seduce families again. Summer festivals, concerts in the summer, temporary exhibitions, free entry for kids… and even a great interactive covered play area where parents will gain at least an hour of peace no matter what the weather turns out to be.

Our favourite, the one that for us is worth every single penny of the ticket remains the tree topwalk. No way to beat this.

From afar, you only notice tree trunks.Come closer and you will glimpse rust-coloured pillars. Look up -  meet Xstrata (who the hell chose that name?), a walk that will take you 18 metres up (118 steps or a quick lift ride depending on your energy of the day) and which was built in 2008 by the same architects that did the London Eye.

Here you are, same level as the highest branches of those 200 years old chestnut trees… The kids love it. Engravings  at kids levels explain biodiversity, the role of seeds and birds. Afar, you can just make London profile, Wembley stadium and on good days even the gherkin. You’re right between the last leaves and the sky. A Peter pan feeling, freedom, everything seems possible…

You instinctively touch the limes, oaks leaves with a sudden tenderness for those green giants. Kids love it too, gasp at the height, and will afterwards look at the forest differently, slightly in awe. They had never quite understood how tall those trees were. Neither had you, for the matter. My 4 and 1/2 princess will ask to go round again, pleeeeaaaase. Imagine how beautiful it must be in winter, all frosty or even better snowy!

200 metres of promenade that one would really love to go further accross the park. Get back to earth? Sure, but we’ll keep stars twinkling in our eyes…

Kew gardens
Victoria Gate
Kew Road
Richmond
Surrey TW9 3AB

Fee: £13.50/adult, kids go free
If you come by car, choose a Sunday, parking in the street will be free. Do come early though, spaces go fast!

A job we thought erased by modern times such as lamplighter, switchboard operators, flower girls…

The very elegant Burlington Arcade has its own shoe-shiner. Have you had a chance to see him? Try lunch time or the end of a working day to see him busy -  there will be plenty of expensive hand-made or Bond Street bought shoes them. The customer usually is half hidden by the wide pages of the Financial times… Some even have a wide knowledge of the subject (which got me to learn that British shoes need less water with the polish than Italian ones).  Strolling the web, I discover this shoe-shine culture is still very much present in New-York but also is takeing roots again in England – look here, @ the Ledenhall Market… Well, of course, this is a couple minutes away from the City, my dear…

Burlington Arcade
51 Burlington Arcade
London
W1J 0QJ
£3.50

For a detailed experience, click here… Have you seen shoe-shiners anywhere else in London?

Ask any Froggie where his cheese heaven is in London, and he will answer Neal’sYard Dairy, La Fromagerie or la Cave a fromages.
Alternatively, the Borough Market is quite an experience (especially if like me, you do stop at every stall to taste).

For a more picturesque time, I love Paxton and Whitfield. They hold a quaint shop in the gentlemen’s quarters, Jermyn street. And trust me, it hides wonders. It used to only be a stall @ Aldwych market in 1742… Thanks to the partnership of Mr Paxton and Mr Whitfield, it could settle here in 1797. So chic royalty fell for it too -  Queen Victoria appointed them official cheesemongers in 1850. And they still have the honour of servir her Majesty the Queen and Prince Charles.

XXth century proved harder – competition of continental cheese, two world wars… Still they made it -  switching to grocery style, adding cream, eggs, milk, butter to their shelves. Even Winston churchill was a fan, swearing that A gentleman only buys his cheese at Paxton and Whitfield…

Just step in and smell… How wonderful! You’ll find here the very best of French and British spcialties… The inside is adorable, the counter is covered with delights, here and there a touch of another time… The team is also so very friendly (even though you’re only taking pictures) and are happy to make you taste this or that novelty.

Fancy a different celebration / wedding? Try this, order a cheese – pyramid!

Sliding to modern times -  you can now order online.  Or join the cheese club for £35 a month and get a special delivery of 4 cheese by courrier…

Paxton and Whitfield
93 Jermyn St
St James
London
SW1Y 6JE

So hard to choose, isn’t it? Should you relax in the garden with a glass of Pimms, while the man of the house is working on the barbie? Or stroll around London, enjoying the sun in the parks or drinking a cocktail on a terrasse? Can’t believe how much is going on this week-end!

- Thursday, rush to Trafalgar square, it’s Canada day! Cirque du soleil, music, hockey tournament..,

- Were you wondering how pop-ups could be even more suprising? Well… This one proposes thai sauce crickets amd white chocolate scorpions every Thursday in July. For free. No worry, they also do propose more conventional dishes (though you will have to pay).  Nice place to take adventurous friends (and if they do like insects, there is a range at Fortnum and Mason’s and Selfridges)

- Like to travel through time? Then you’ll love this retro evening -  a drive-in! The cars are already there, you just need to snuggle and order some popcorn from the waitresses skating around….

- The Tate Modern is such a sweetie – litterally! – for the festival of architecture…

- Talk to strangers (and have a free meal)!

- have a look at the disused Aldwych tube station, reopened for a very limited time…

- Photo amateurs will love this discovery day of Shoreditch…

- Kensal Green, one of the beautiful Victorian cemeteries of London proposes guided tours of its catacombs…

- Are you a quick swimmer? Well, splash and see whether you can win this race! Your prefer a gentle swim? Head for the city’s lidos.

- Take your Eisntein Juniors to the Science Museum’s new exhibition -  Who am I?

- Last year, the British Museum celebrated India, this year it’s Africa’s turn…

- Too hot… Thanks God for the beer festival!

- Or have your pint with a pinch of blues…

- have a different Sunday and celebrate American style…

You’ll find me… picking strawberries and raspberries… Having yummy food with delicious friends @ Jamie’s Italian… And picnicking @ Kew Gardens (they also have a cute photo exhibition).

How about you?

… Celui-ci a ete prolonge jusqu’au 11 juillet 2010. Sachez que l’offre sur le musees est egalement valable sur une selection d’etablissements… a Paris et a Bruxelles (la liste est par ici).

Allez, jouez la British et envoyez-nous vos photos…

Londres est a vous!

(Et la Tate Modern a moi, j’etais la premiere, sorry!)

Voici celle d’Argone:

Et vous?

It is always fascinating to discover another side of London – another era, long-gone jobs, view old advertisment, compare how neons and buildings have advanced…

The National Geographic shop proposes a travel through time with blacn and white pictures of the capital. Some are classical – London definitely defies time – others are extraordinary, like those ice-skaters on the Serpentine in 1940…

Entrance is free and it is really worth stopping by.

National Geographic Shop
83-97 Regent Street
London
W18 4EW

Until July 18, 2010 – free
Pssst: just around the corner, you’ll find Freggo - delicious Argentinian ice-creams. You’ll be hooked on the dulce in no time!

A whole week of sun, even a mini heat-wave… guys, it’s barbecue-time and Pimms: let’s celebrate!

- The pianos are back! pretend you’re Mozart, improvise, make everybody dance…

- Oooh, it’s time for the V&A late night, on architecture this time. And there will be jazz too…

- By the way, it’s the festival of architecture with plenty going on!

- Be zen this week-end with taichi and yoga workshops @ Greenwich park…

- The summer festival is back @ the National theatre and there will be plenty of free shows on the stage on Southbank…. check out the program!

- Great, the beach is still there!And the appearing rooms also are back at the Southbank centre – the kids love those…

- Make your bets for the dragon boat race!

- Have a taste of honey @ Barbican…

- Rediscover London with songs …

- Are you ready for Wimbledon? I’m not but this tennis themed afternoon tea looks just perfect to me….

- Take your little ones to see the Charlie and Lola exhibition…

How will you enjoy the sun? I’m escaping to Paris for the week-end, ohlala!

At the first ray of sunshine, people tend to rush to the lawns and beer gardens (often looks like a giant barbecue to me after a few hours). I love to stroll through a green oasis instead. Why not enjoy the rose garden in Hyde Park, planted in 1994. Isn’t it magical to caress the petals, compare the textures, smile at a bee’s drunken ballet?

End of June is the best time too – the roses are in full bloom. Splendid notes of orange, pepper, vanilla are in the air. Some are double, shy, bright purple, freckled, others blousy and seem to be opening very slowly like The Little Prince’s one.

The gardens are narrow but go on for ever. Narrow paths serpent through them, a few benches, lovely statues, an arched tunnel coverel with white blooms…

The best place to read this summer’s romantic novel!

Rose Garden
Hyde Park
London W1

Free

A great escape to the countryside is to drive down to Mottisfont Abbey – what a fab collection of roses they have there! (a few pics here)